Factory Records' 30th Anniversary Feted With Box Set

Whether off the lip of a name-checking record store clerk, through such feature films as Control and 24 Hour Party People, or by way of some of the label's flagship acts, you've probably encountered the hallowed words "Factory Records" at some point in your travels.

But there's more to the legendary Manchester imprint and music culture institution than Joy Division, the late, great Tony Wilson, the infamous Hacienda club, and the whimsical assignment of catalog numbers: there's the music, of course, something A Factory Box Set will positively teem with when it arrives January 12 in the UK, courtesy of Rhino [via Idolator, confirmed by publicity].

Spreading some 63 Factory favorites across four discs in rough chronological order, A Factory Box Set indeed includes a healthy sampling of Joy Division and New Order, as well as representative offerings from New Order offshoots Electronic, Revenge, and the Other Two. But the set also finds room for other post-punk heavyweights and lesser-knowns (Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, the Wake, Quando Quango), Madchester staples (Happy Mondays, Northside), and even a few folks who would go on to bigger things (OMD, James). There through it all is perhaps the imprint's one true constant, the Durutti Column, who gets a track on each of the four discs.

Factory buffs may notice the conspicuous absence in the tracklist below of ESG, who are reportedly not included here due to licensing issues.

A Factory Box Set commemorates the 30th anniversary of Factory Records' 1978 founding. No word just yet whether this thing will get its own honorary catalog number, but hey, all this stuff did.